different medication?

hello i am a 44yr old female who has had heart palpitations accompanied with achey (achy) arms with some light headedness fr over 20yrs. i had an echo done and a black box tape monitor over 3 and a half yrs ago which showed i had a slight heart mumur. since then i have been given the medication bisoprolo fumerate which has lowered my blood pressure and did stop the palpitations for a while but they are now back and seem to be worse. what worries me is my mum had a stroke this year since she had a pacemaker insitu 3-4yrs ago. could the same happen to me if i had to have one and can anyone suggest any other medication that might be more suitable for these palpatations please? many thanks. a worried mother of one.

[va_tony]

It really depends on what's causing your palpitations.  If they are simple PVC's, then they are benign generally and you shouldn't worry about the complication of a stroke. On the other hand if your palps are the result of atrial fibrillation, your odds of a stroke are much increased (depending on age and other risk factors... but at 44 are minimal). Has you doctor/cardiologist identified what arrhythmia you have by ekg? If your murmur is due to severe mitral valve regurgitation, it coud be afib. On the other hand, mitral valve prolapse is also basically harmless. If it's afib, a stroke can be avoided by taking either a baby aspirin a day or an anticoagulant like coumadin (indicated for those over 65). The bisoprolol fumarate is a beta blocker and will help with some palps. If all you have are PVCs, the risk vs benefit really doesn't favor your taking a stronger drug.